Box-ing It in Chi-Town

I had an annual meeting to attend this week in Chicago. Ah, Chicago.  Chicago is a city I really enjoy.  It's a beautiful place with lots to do.  Whenever I have to be there I take the first flight out so I can get there as early as possible.  I love to walk the city.  In fact, I've been known to walk from downtown to Steppenwolf Theatre.  It's only a couple of miles. But, it's not a typical walk for many.

This trip is my first real trip away since getting in the box.  I've had short overnights, but never anything where I knew I wouldn't have a microwave right there ready for me to eat my entrees. 

Paulie went to Chicago a couple of weeks ago and she made 5 dozen muffins. Muffins, great idea!  So, I did the same.  I also packed my mini-blender and lots of shakes and puddings. 

I figured I'm going to do everything I can to fill my tummy with box food.  Between the blender and all the packets, you can see it didn't leave too much room for my clothes -- and I wasn't going to bring anything bigger than a carry on.  So, I was making it work. 

I put the muffins in my satchel for easy access!  And, that worked out great.  The muffins were a real saving grace.  I could just eat those whenever I started to feel hungry. 

Once I arrived and checked in, I took a really long walk.  Since my flight out was at 6 am, I missed my exercise time at the gym that morning.  I love walking downtown.  It's so energetic and the texture of the city is captivating.  An hour into my walk, I found a coffee shop across from what looks like a giant coffee bean in Millennium Park.  It's actually called the Cloud Gate.  But, it really looks more like a bean.  Anyway,  I had a presentation to finalize for the next day and was craving some coffee. 

After working on my presentation, I took another long walk and decided I should try to find a store to stock up on some fruits and drinks. I thought finding fresh fruit in the downtown area wouldn't be too hard -- perhaps challenging.  But, I remember many times seeing this in coffee shops or small groceries in the downtown area. Just needed to keep my eyes open.  It was even easier than I thought.  I was passing a Walgreens and could see fruit in the window.  This really made me think.  Is it like that in Louisiana? I know we have "lip smaking" cracklins or butter pecan pralines at the counter.  (For the record, I don't find cracklins "lip smaking" or the least bit tempting).  My point is...  I think it would be harder to stumble upon fresh fruit at home.  Or, maybe I've just not been paying as much attention.  But, I'd never think to stop at Walgreens if I needed a banana.

Nevertheless, I was able to purchase a few things for my room to help keep me in the box.  I had really thought adding fruits and vegetables would make my trip to Chicago easier.  I could stop in a restaurant and just get a salad.  But, it has probably brought me more anxiety.  Now, I have to figure out how to incorporate them into the diet plus -- because they are new to me -- I get really nervous over the idea of going to a restaurant eating them. I think a big part of that is because I've spent 13 weeks avoiding restaurants, I can't imagine really just going to one and ordering something and still being IN the box.  The mind is an amazing thing. 

Anyway, I survived the trip and the many challenges that it brought.  I'm not sure I didn't gain weight though... I did end up eating a WHOLE lot of muffins.  I'll keep you posted.